Unnatural: The Heretical Idea of Making People

The creation of artificial people is an idea with a long cultural history: medieval alchemists believed they could make homunculi, Jewish legend has the golem, and English literature tells of Frankenstein's monster and the hatchery babies of Brave New World. Ball examines the fears about new technology which these old tales of 'impiety' betray and reveals their continuing influence on our thinking in an age when cloning, embryo research and assisted conception are beginning to make fantasy a reality.